Pandemic pivot: My favorite street is closed to cars — but open to people
URBAN EDGE : October 7, 2020
Main Street in Ventura, California, which has been closed to cars and opened to restaurants and other businesses affected by the coronavirus, is my favorite street. This essay is both a discussion of what makes a great street and a personal reminiscence about what this particular street means to me.
We’ll overcome COVID-19, but can we overcome 400 years of wrongs?
URBAN EDGE : September 22, 2020
There has been a lot of discussion and speculation about the future of cities and how they will change following the pandemic. What will that future look like for Black Americans, who have been abused, exploited, ground down and lied to in the past? As we move into the future, what will change? And what will stay the same?
Residential segregation rewards whites while punishing people of color
URBAN EDGE : September 21, 2020
From 1980 to 2015, homes in white neighborhoods increased in value, on average, $194,000 more than in neighborhoods of color, according to new research. And the rate of the gap in assessed values of these comparable homes in comparable neighborhoods is getting larger over time.
A summer fellowship is the bridge to AmeriCorps service in Fifth Ward
URBAN EDGE : August 17, 2020
The Kinder Institute’s Community Bridges program provides Rice University students an opportunity to both study and work to address urban inequality in Houston. Here’s Susanna Yau’s story of how working with the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation changed her life.
Imbalance, inequality and the growing burden on working parents with school-age kids
URBAN EDGE : July 24, 2020
While children attend K-12 public schools for an average of 1,195 hours per year, a full-time working parent averages twice as much time, about 2,450 hours per year, working and commuting. Now, as school districts prepare to reopen for the fall semester — whether in-person, virtually or a combination of both — administrators, teachers, parents and students are having to adjust their plans based what’s possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
Why does it take so long to vote?
URBAN EDGE : July 13, 2020
Overall, waiting times may be improving — but long waits are still common in Black communities. As the percentage of nonwhite voters in a precinct increases, so do wait times.
Monumental changes require removing monuments to the Confederacy
URBAN EDGE : July 8, 2020
Americans once again are calling for and debating the removal of Confederate monuments. Some want them to remain, claiming they are part of their heritage. But these monuments are tied to a divisive history and the denial of the Black American experience. Leaving them in place only honors the Confederacy’s cause: To preserve the status quo and continue enslaving Black Americans.
Helping families find — and keep — affordable housing during these tough times
URBAN EDGE : June 24, 2020
Those who need affordable housing most have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. And organizations that help create affordable housing opportunities in Houston and Harris County for these families are facing challenges — some anticipated, others not — in this new and uncertain world.